What to wear under bib shorts ?

[Grandad]

There are specific shorts liners that can be used under padded shorts

The advert accessed from the provided link specifically says they are for shorts without a pad.

[tatanab]

The advert accessed from the provided link specifically says they are for shorts without a pad.

Not quite - it says they are "under shorts without pads" (I can see the possible confusion)i.e shorts liners without pads, "under shorts with pads" are available from the same supplier. I have several pairs of these unpadded undies .

[Paulatic]

Hi all thanks for the advice. Like I said I'm new to the sport. I have got plenty of bib shorts so will take on all advice and Wear them as advised. I'm supposed to be doing a 100k ride next weekend so it's going to be interesting!

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my SM-J320FN using hovercraft full of eels.

Just remember they aren't compulsory. I did 66 mls yesterday without them, just seamless underwear and baggy shorts, and absolutely no sore bits this morning.
I started wearing padded shorts when I did 200k and above Audax rides 20 yrs ago. Then Later they just became a habit I broke the habit just over a year ago now and I've no regrets.

[Norman H]

As others have said liners, padded or not, can be useful when daily washing isn't practical. Or just to wear under normal shorts or trousers.

Avoiding seams is the important thing. I bought a pair of the Planet X ones on an earlier recommendation from tatanab and I've had no problems with chaffing.

I've since discovered these from Primark and have so far used them on rides up to 50miles with no problems. They are very quick drying and pack very small.

[mjr]

As a complete heretic, I wear very thin underwear under my padded lycra. As said above, you need to make sure there are no nasty seams or anything else in the contact areas.

Surely the complete heretics are those of us who reject the cult of cream-filled nappies and just wear ordinary (but flat/no-seamed where you sit) clothes to ride comfortable saddles? (A Brev.M Sellino on the road bike, a Dawes GT on the roadster, various others including SR, Lycett and Brooks.)

Maybe a cult member would like to try to explain why they feel padding inside the cloth is any better than padding outside the cloth on the saddle, for anyone except clothing sellers?

How can you avoid seams in the contact areas? All seams are going to contact your skin if the garment is skin-tight, as commonly advocated, including by robc02 above, and that's going to irritate the hell out of you unless you're thick-skinned.

I've since discovered these from Primark and have so far used them on rides up to 50miles with no problems. They are very quick drying and pack very small.

If you don't mind me asking - do they have much space in the front?

I've made at least one bad purchase from a recommendation on here in the past, where the manufacturer seems to have made pants for a smooth-fronted Action Man. I'm pretty sure I'm not an unusual or excessive shape there

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
I just guess that a lot of commando posters here are flat fronted action men.......there..

[Norman H]

If you don't mind me asking - do they have much space in the front?

I've made at least one bad purchase from a recommendation on here in the past, where the manufacturer seems to have made pants for a smooth-fronted Action Man. I'm pretty sure I'm not an unusual or excessive shape there

How much space do you need? They're very stretchy, I think they could accommodate most egos.

One thing I've noticed buying clothing lately is that retailers seem to have recognised the obesity crisis. Some no longer offer small sizes and others like Primark seem to have re-labelled their entire range by one size so as not to offend the customer. So Large becomes medium and medium becomes small etc.

I would normally take a small but ended up with XS in the ones from Primark.

[pete75]

If you don't mind me asking - do they have much space in the front?

I've made at least one bad purchase from a recommendation on here in the past, where the manufacturer seems to have made pants for a smooth-fronted Action Man. I'm pretty sure I'm not an unusual or excessive shape there

I would normally take a small but ended up with XS in the ones from Primark.

Obviously a different er build to mjr

[mjr]

If you don't mind me asking - do they have much space in the front?

How much space do you need? They're very stretchy, I think they could accommodate most egos.

Excuse me, I'm just off to use a measuring jug and the Archimedes principle to tell me the volume required

Stretchy is OK, but my previous purchase made me wonder how it felt to be shrinkwrapped!

[[XAP]Bob]

Under shorts - I reckon shoes are important...

[RickH]

Another convert to heresy here!

(Long ramble alert!)
When I started cycling in the 70s cycling shorts generally had real chamois which needed cream rubbing in to keep it soft & supple. Convention said you didn't wear anything underneath &, with the underwear generally available at the time that was probably sensible.

For various reasons (work, dad's taxi, etc.) I more-or-less stopped around the late 1990s. In the 18 months before I got back into cycling I did a bit of running, starting from nothing - struggling to run a mile - to running a full marathon. I quite enjoyed the running once I could keep going for around 3 miles at a reasonable pace. Once thing I found was that my inner thighs chaffed together in running shorts so I bought some lycra wicking undershorts (as you commonly see in many sports these days).

I quite enjoyed running but I was I was finding it wasn't as practical as cycling. After I'd done the marathon in 2007 I started cycling again, for transport as well as for the fun of it. The thought occurred to me that if I wore the running undershorts under my cycling shorts then they wouldn't need washing as frequently (real chamois doesn't tend to be all that quick drying) so that was what I started doing. As I renewed my cycling gear I found many of the modern pads also have an antibacterial treatment which probably helps too. The lycra undershorts also make (for me at least) cycling in ordinary clothes more comfortable (no, or flat, seams in the "wrong" places). Whilst I generally prefer to ride in cycling shorts with a decent pad, I have ridden up to around 50 miles in a day using undershorts & unpadded shorts without problem. I've done tours of up to 2 weeks wearing padded shorts with undershorts working on fresh undershorts each day (I reckon 6 pairs take up a similar space to 1 pair of padded shorts) & wear shorts for 3 days at a time before washing. For a weekend trip I generally wouldn't take spare shorts these days, just spare undershorts.

YMMV but I don't recall a single saddle sore in the last 10 years without the application of any creams (& pushing at the door of 30k miles). To be fair I think I only had 1 slight sore in my first 20 years using more traditional methods.

[robc02]

How can you avoid seams in the contact areas? All seams are going to contact your skin if the garment is skin-tight, as commonly advocated, including by robc02 above, and that's going to irritate the hell out of you unless you're thick-skinned.

Most of the pads nowadays are moulded and seamless, so the bits where most pressure is applied are smooth. There are seams elsewhere and they are normally flat to minimise the risk of rubbing. if the shorts are loose, the whole garment can slide around, causing rubbing. If it is a tight(ish) fit, then the seams and pad are more likely to stay put. The only irritation I have had in recent years has been from shorts that are not quite tight enough and either a seam can move, or there is movement of the edge of the pad against the top of my leg.